[ASMR Community]

ASMR Research needs your support

/ Dr. Richard / Leave a comment

It is likely that ASMR has health benefits for people struggling with stress, poor sleep, low moods, and other conditions.

Perhaps you have benefited from ASMR and wonder why more health professionals aren’t advocating ASMR to their clients and patients?

The answer is simple.  Health professionals are waiting for more research studies about ASMR to be published and you can help.  Even though you may not be a researcher, you can help to accelerate ASMR research by supporting it.

You may have heard that ASMR can reduce your heart rate.  This groundbreaking research was done by Dr. Giulia Poerio and her team at the University of Essex, UK – providing the first direct physiological evidence of the relaxing effects of ASMR.

Now, Dr. Poerio and her team want to establish an  ASMR network of scientists, experts, and the ASMR community.  This project will create a prioritized list of ASMR research questions that will drive future core research about the biology and health effects of ASMR.

Establishing this ASMR Network does require a small foundation of financial support to get it going, and you can help.

Ready to help? Jump right to this site to learn more, watch a video from Dr. Poerio, and/or donate:  https://crowd.science/campaigns/asmrnet-establishing-a-global-research-network-and-prioritised-agenda-for-asmr/

Or, keep reading for a personal message from Dr. Poerio.

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ASMR community veterans launch Tingletastic website

/ Dr. Richard / 1 Comment

Looking to help spread the awareness of ASMR and display your love for ASMR on a t-shirt, hoodie, wall print, or other item?

Evy Whispers (Evy Van Droogenbroeck) and Whisperhub (Sue Dorrens) have launched the new website Tingletastic.com to help ASMR enthusiasts display their love on some Tingletastic swag.

Evy and Sue are long time ASMR enthusiasts, ASMR video artists, and contributors to the ASMR Community.  I previously wrote a blog article about Sue in 2016 highlighting her founding of the Whisperhub website in 2011 and the creation of the I Love ASMR Facebook page in 2014.  Evy and Sue have worked together previously on the ASMR Island community website.

The seed for Tingletastic was born from their own deep enthusiasm and appreciation for ASMR and how it helped them with insomnia (for Sue), as well as, with depression and anxiety (for Evy).

So what ASMR goodies and resources can you find at Tingletastic.com?

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Interesting data from an ASMR spa survey

/ Dr. Richard / Leave a comment

Would you be interested in an ASMR spa?

Amanda Rose Doherty is currently an Account Manager at a software company in Barcelona, Spain.  She received her Business Studies Degree in Marketing at Dublin City University.

Amanda was considering the idea of opening an ASMR spa.  She created a survey in 2016 to assess interest in this idea  and I wrote an article about her with a link to her survey.

The bad news is that Amanda has shifted her focus away from creating an ASMR spa, but the good news is that she has shared the results of her survey with me – and the data shows that there is a strong interest in ASMR spas.

She had over 600 responses and has given me permission to share her interesting data below.  Below are results from her survey, followed by a link if you would like to learn more about her.

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The importance of consent in ASMR videos and live sessions

/ Dr. Richard / 1 Comment

Abby Lee Hood is a Nashville-based freelance writer who recently wrote a terrific article for MTV news titled, “ASMR IS NORMALIZING CONSENT, ONE WHISPER AT A TIME.”

Her article highlights how consent not only applies to romantic and non-romantic relationships, but also to ASMR.   Consent is an important part of ASMR role-play videos and real world ASMR sessions because feeling safe and at ease is probably critical to the relaxing feeling of ASMR.

Abby Lee cites data in the article about consent and ASMR which was collected by MTV from over 100 participants.  She has shared the data with me and given me permission to share it here.  Most of the responses focus on ASMR videos, but the incorporation of consent would also be very relevant to live or person-to-person ASMR sessions.

Below are the data from the MTV survey, followed by links to her article and her website.

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ASMR commercial debuts during the Super Bowl

/ Dr. Richard / Leave a comment

ASMR made it to the Super Bowl.

On Feb 3, 2019, an ASMR commercial featuring Zoe Kravitz and Michelob Ultra Pure Gold played during the 4th quarter of the Super Bowl.

In full disclosure, I was the ASMR consultant for the past couple of months to the creative and production teams behind the commercial.  These individuals truly wanted to understand ASMR and represent it appropriately in the commercial – and I think they did a fantastic job, as do some ASMR artists.

The ASMR artist, Somni Rosae, sent me the following email:

“Hi Dr. Richard!  Have you seen the new beer ad for the Super Bowl?  Personally, I think this is the first ad I think the advertising agencies got it right.  Cheers, Somni”

The ASMR artist, Gibi ASMR, commented on the commercial in the Chicago Tribune:

“I thought it was awesome. They hit the nail on the head. You can tell they did their research: They had the binaural microphones, had her whispering back and forth. They had tapping, nice sounds. They definitely watched content and had done their research on what ASMR is supposed to be. They, of course, blew it up, made it Hollywood, used a big budget, and so it was very cool. They were accurate.”

The video is currently posted on the YouTube channel for Michelob Ultra (it is the most viewed video on the channel) and contains positive comments from additional ASMR artists like ASMR Darling, fastASMR, Karuna Satori ASMR, The ASMR Ryan, ASMR Destiny, Holly ASMR, and Tyson ASMR.

The production was selected as one of the 10 Best Super Bowl Commercials by The Washington Post,  Thrillist, and Oprah Magazine, and five months later was described as, “the prime example of an incredibly successful ASMR brand advertisement.” The Pantagraph also selected it as a “Super Bowl Winner.”

How did the ASMR-inspired ad affect sales? “Azania Andrews, VP of Marketing for Michelob Ultra, said sales volume for the beer grew in the triple digits following the airing of the ad“.

My favorite article about the commercial was by Dr William Halligan, a dentist in San Diego who saw it and asked, “what in the world was this?”   Dr Halligan then went searching about ASMR and even strapped a heart rate monitor on himself to see his physiological response to ASMR videos.

The Super Bowl commercial is linked below and here are some of the key ASMR elements to watch for:

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Voices of ASMR: What triggers ASMR while watching a video? (podcast episode #16)

/ Dr. Richard / 1 Comment

ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityIn this podcast episode, you will hear participants in the Voices of ASMR project explain the following about their ASMR experiences:

What triggers ASMR for you when you are watching a video, include details like:

  • Are you triggered by voices? sounds? sights?
  • Which of the above trigger types is the strongest for you?
  • Can you experience ASMR by listening to a video with the screen off?
  • What specific actions, sounds, scenarios, or role-plays in a video stimulate your ASMR the strongest?
  • Do your immediate surroundings make a difference to your ability to experience ASMR from a video?
  • Do you prefer intentional ASMR videos or unintentional ASMR videos?
  • Who are your favorite ASMR artists and why do you like them better than other artists?
  • For you, is the ASMR stimulated by a video similar or different from the ASMR stimulated by a real world situation?

Listen on [Podurama]

Subscribe (free) to the ASMR University Podcast to hear all of the past and future episodes or listen to this one episode right here:

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Voices of ASMR: What triggers ASMR in the real world? (podcast episode #15)

/ Dr. Richard / Leave a comment

ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityIn this podcast episode, you will hear participants in the Voices of ASMR project explain the following about their ASMR experiences:

  • What real world situations trigger your ASMR the strongest?
  • Do your immediate surroundings make a difference?
  • Is the sensation similar or different from ASMR triggered by a video or audio recording?

Subscribe to the ASMR University Podcast to hear all of the past and future episodes or listen to this one episode right here:

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Jimmy Kimmel features ASMR on late night talk show

/ Dr. Richard / Leave a comment

ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityJimmy Kimmel explored the curious world of ASMR videos – with the help of kids.

This week, his late night show on ABC featured a 5 minute segment of him talking to kids about ASMR.  The kids explained ASMR and they watched ASMR videos together.

I thought the kids did a great job of explaining ASMR, with enjoyable moments of amusement between the host and the kids.

I’ve added Jimmy Kimmel to my growing list below of almost 50 actors, musicians, and other well know individuals who have discussed ASMR or attempted to create ASMR triggers.

Scroll down the list below and tap on Jimmy Kimmel’s name to watch his funny ASMR round table with the kids, and tap any of the other famous names to see how they are exploring ASMR.

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Renee Frances publishes the first ASMR-inspired children’s book

/ Dr. Richard / 1 Comment

ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityRenee Frances is a children’s book author who has written the first children’s picture book to incorporate ASMR, titled “Avery Sleeps More Readily: A whispered Good Night Fairy book.”

Incorporating ASMR triggers into the content and process of reading a child a bedtime story is a fantastic idea.   Common ASMR triggers like personal attention, whispering, soft voices, light touch, picture tracing, gentle hand movements, page turning, and caring behaviors are typical stimuli that can occur when a parent or caretaker reads a child a bedtime story.

It is even possible that the origins of ASMR are rooted in most caring behaviors that happen between children and their caretakers.  Renee’s book not only reminds readers about incorporating these soothing behaviors at bedtime, but provides optimal techniques and content to help readers lull a child to sleep with a bedtime story.

The illustrations are beautifully done by Romaine Tacey and I was provided the great honor of writing the foreword.  The book will be available on Amazon on August 8, 2018, but in the meantime you can access a digital copy via the link at the end of this article.

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New museum exhibit features ASMR videos

/ Dr. Richard / Leave a comment

ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityASMR videos will be one of several video genres featured in a new museum exhibit titled, “The New Genres: Video in the Internet Age.”

The exhibit is focusing on the following new video genres which have appeared over the last two decades: vlogs, Let’s Play videos, Unboxing videos, and ASMR videos.

Specific videos of each genre will be highlighted because they have been considered to be “significant, influential, and representational of these videos.”

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